Beginings
by Rosewolf the MothSlayer
Summary: Selenay only had one thought going through her mind. She had to get away. Far away. The fourteen year old could hear her father's shouts, and her brothers calling for her, calling for her to come back. Calling her to come back to the one place she never wanted to see again.


Selenay only had one thought going through her mind. She had to get away. Far away.

The fourteen year old could hear her father's shouts, and her brothers calling for her, calling for her to come back. Calling her to come back to the one place she never wanted to see again.

She ran as fast as she could down the darkened street, occasionally looking back to make sure that her family wasn't behind her. She jumped when she heard a bird song, thinking it was her brother Kris' signal to her brothers. The stone post marking the edge of town loomed up ahead, and she rushed past, heading towards the edge of the Dihirensa forest. Her only refuge for the past four years.

Her pace slowed to a walk when she reached the little used path she had found and claimed for herself, so long ago. Selenay followed the path as her mind started to drift...

-linebreak-

"Selenay?" Damion Kre'chonera's voice broke the silence at the the dinner table, causing her to look up at her father, apprehension building up inside her as she wondered if she did something wrong _again_, or if he was going to do his usual questioning and lecture on obedience. Her brothers were also looking at their father, and she mentally noted how even Kris and Sendar, the two troublemakers of the family, were alert, and were in a mental conversation by the expressions on their faces.

Selenay sighed, wishing that this was one the days where her father didn't dine with his family. "Yes, father?"

"Where were you this afternoon? And why did you not inform me of your whereabouts?" Selenay nearly rolled her eyes, but schooled her face into a neutral expression.

"I was in the Dihirensa forest, father. I didn't inform you because I'm there almost everyday anyway, so you should know that I'm there." As soon as she said this, Darian gave her a warning look, but her father's glare already made her regret saying that.

"A young lady does not talk back to her elders," her father stated for what seemed to be the hundredth time. "Nor does she go trampling around in the Dihirensa forest, since it's far too dangerous."

"It's not dangerous! It's perfectly safe out there-"

Her father abruptly stood up and walked around the table, pulling Selenay up by her arm. "Selenay Keisha Teshen'dra, you will stay away from that forest, or else!"

Darian quickly stood up and pulled Selenay's arm out of his father's grip, and Kris and Sendar also stood. "Father, calm down. Sele has never gotten hurt out there-"

"She is living under my roof, so she is to follow every order I give her! So-"

"Why should I?" Selenay exclaimed, cutting off her father. She crossed her arms and glared at her father. "Why is it necessary that I have to be ordered around like a servant? You didn't bothered with me for the first ten years of my life! You never even spoke to me! Darian, Kris, and Sendar were doing a good job of raising me!"

"Good job?" Her father slapped her across the face, before being restrained by Kris and Sendar. Selenay touched her cheek, which stung from the slap, as her father raged on. "You caught pneumonia when you were eight because they forgot you, and they let you run around like a wild animal! Not anymore!" He pulled himself out of his sons' grip. "You will not go anywhere or do anything without my permission, and you will follow my orders. A daughter's duty is to obey her father until marriage, and you will obey! Do you understand me?"

Selenay lowered her hand from her face, and looked her father in the eye. What she meant to say was "Yes sir, I understand. I'm sorry."

But she didn't. "I understand, but I'm sick and tired of it! No more!" Her family's faces all mirrored looks of shock, as she realized what she just said. She turned on her heel and ran out of the house, before they could come to their senses.

-linebreak-

Soon, Selenay reached her little clearing, and she sat down on a flat rock by the little stream running through it, not noticing that her skirt was getting wet. She sighed as the wind picked up, and the murmuring of voices could be heard. "Little girl unhappy..."

"I am very unhappy. My father thinks that he should control every aspect of my life." She stood up and started to pace. "Who knows, he might even try to control who I marry!" Tears ran out of her eyes, and she wiped them away. "He didn't even look at me until I was ten! He'd blame my mother's death on me! Then he turns and starts ordering me around, makes us move away from Seer's Haven, and tries to force me to become a 'proper young lady'. I'm sick and tired of it!" She looked up at the darkening sky, wondering why the Gods did this to her.

Suddenly, she abruptly turned, and headed towards one of the trees. "No more... I won't let him control my life, my destiny, or me." She knelt down by the tree and moved a flat stone that was up against it, revealing a small hole. "I'm leaving. I'm going back to Seer's Haven."

The voices in the wind grew louder. "Little girl... leaving? ...Stay... play...don't leave..."

Selenay reached into the hole and pulled out an old wooden box, carved with gryphons. Then it was emptied of the money she had stashed away, and counted it. She looked up, and slowly stood. "I can't stay... but I will come back. I promise..."

The wind died down for a second, along with the voices. Then a gentle breeze stirred, and the voices returned, softer than before. "Men... come... little girl... run..." they whispered to her, before the breeze died down.

Selenay hesitated, then she started to run. She ran out of the clearing towards a path that would take her to the main road. Her name was being shouted from behind her, but the voices were faint and far behind.

When she looked over her shoulder to see if anyone had managed to creep up behind her, Selenay felt her skirt catch on something. She was yanked back, falling onto a bush. Looking up at the branches around her, she groaned. "I hate wearing a skirt..." She tried to pull herself out, but cried out in pain when she felt something stab her leg.

Carefully sitting up, she examined her leg, to finding a thorn embedded in it. Selenay could see that the thorn was still attached to the the branch. Carefully grasping the branch, she tugged on the thorn, wincing as it slid out. As she let go of the branch, her fingers grazed something. In the dim light, she could see that it was a wild rose. She tilted her head, wondering how she managed to avoid it in her fall.

More shouting in the distance snapped Selenay back into reality. She pushed herself off the bush and started to run again, not stopping, not even slowing down until she reached the main trade road.

Selenay allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief as she reached the trade road. Looking back at the forest, a thought came to her. She was leaving behind her old life, and everything she was. Her own name kept her connected to that, so Selenay knew that if she was to cut herself loose, she would have to leave behind her name...

"My name is not Selenay," she whispered into the night. "I am... Rose."

With that, Rose stepped onto the road that lead to Seer's Haven, not looking back.


End file.
